5.15.2005

I've been emailing my brother, Billy, a lot lately. I think I've communicated with him more during his tour in Kuwait than when he was stationed in California. For those who don't know, Billy is in the Air Force. He was sent to Kuwait a few months ago, and he's supposed to be there until this fall. So far, so good. I have some pictures saved to my PC, but I'm unfamiliar with photo bucket, so you'll have to wait until I get it figured out before I can share them with you. His most important job is transporting soldiers from all different nations including Georgia (not the state, the country), Albania, South Korea, etc. They arrive at his base, and then they get on a cargo plane, and it transports them to several locations in Iraq including Baghdad (which is about an hour and a half from his base). After the drop off, they bring back soldiers who have either finished their tour; are too injured to finish; or are no longer alive (respectful silence). Billy's job is to guard the cockpit with his boom stick to prevent encroachment during these flight missions. I can only imagine the amount of fear people experience in any capacity over there, but I'm sure it's more of a repressed emotion instead of expressed. I'm sure that if you're in that situation, you can't afford to have your fear get the best of you, so you throw down and deal with it as best as you can. That's what he's been doing, and he's doing a damn fine job of it despite not wanting any part of Dubya's cause. He always has a funny story to tell that illustrates the lighter side of what he's experienced over there. For example, his second most important job is chasing camels away that get too close to the base. He said that the best land for camels to graze on is near the base, but the poor animals aren't allowed anywhere near it. If camels could make movies, this would be a serious subject matter, and it would probably be made into a very intense thriller involving renegade camels who are trying to win their land back in the fashion of William Wallace's quest for coveted freedom. Because I'm trying to be brief (it never works), I won't elaborate on any more stories that he told me, but my point is that he's doing very well and trying to be as safe as possible. Keeping in touch gives us both satisfaction because he entertains me, and I entertain him back. We don't dwell on the fact that he has to be over there in the potential face of danger while his kids are back in Cali with his looney of an ex-wife. We just talk about normal stuff like movies and music and friends and family and whatever just as if he was still in California. The only time we make a reference to what he's doing over there is usually in jest, but then again, most things are referred to in jest between the two of us. We crack each other up. It's great to keep in touch this way. And to think that, years ago, it wouldn't have been this easy to stay in touch, so we're fortunate for Al Gore's interweb and the rest of technology's perks.